I had seen the name of the book 'The catcher in the Rye' in many of the must-read books lists. Read of the reclusive life of it's author JD Salinger as an epitaph in The Hindu Literary magazine and decided to grab a copy for the next read.
J D Salinger:
American author born in 1919, JD Salinger's slim oeuvre consists of his only novel ' The Catcher in the Rye ' and few anthologies of short stories. Known for his only novel and reclusive nature alike , Salinger went hiding to a wooded compound in New Hampshire, London when his novel was published in US which came to acclaimed as the great classic of American adolescence. He lived in New Hampshire till his death on January 27Th 2010 due to natural causes. Obsessed with privacy, Salinger wanted his photograph removed from subsequent editions of his novel and had the fan mails burned.
The Catcher in the Rye:
An adolescent novel written as a first hand narration by the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, the story spans three days in his life. Ousted from his school, Holden decides to stay back in New york for three days before Christmas so that he could reach home as if for the Christmas vacation. Holden dislikes anything phony and hence end up hating most people he meets in his life. The two people he admires the most are his younger sister Phoebe and his younger brother Allie who passed away a few years back due to Leukemia. He decides to leave New york to an unknown land where he would live like a deaf-mute to be spared from the phony talks of the world since he felt most people would not take the pain to write and communicate with him if he pretended to be a deaf- mute. The only person he wishes to say goodbye is Phoebe and due to her insistence that she would also join him in his journey, he finally decides to stay back home. He enjoys Phoebe's innocence and fears that the filthiness in the world would grab her of her innocence one day. At times of fear and despair he talks to his deceased brother and gains solace.
The language of the book is a little too colloquial with words like 'Goddamn','something and all','old..'etc being used abundantly. The frequent,carefree description of adolescent sexual desires made it a little uneasy to read through.
J D Salinger:
American author born in 1919, JD Salinger's slim oeuvre consists of his only novel ' The Catcher in the Rye ' and few anthologies of short stories. Known for his only novel and reclusive nature alike , Salinger went hiding to a wooded compound in New Hampshire, London when his novel was published in US which came to acclaimed as the great classic of American adolescence. He lived in New Hampshire till his death on January 27Th 2010 due to natural causes. Obsessed with privacy, Salinger wanted his photograph removed from subsequent editions of his novel and had the fan mails burned.
The Catcher in the Rye:
An adolescent novel written as a first hand narration by the protagonist, Holden Caulfield, the story spans three days in his life. Ousted from his school, Holden decides to stay back in New york for three days before Christmas so that he could reach home as if for the Christmas vacation. Holden dislikes anything phony and hence end up hating most people he meets in his life. The two people he admires the most are his younger sister Phoebe and his younger brother Allie who passed away a few years back due to Leukemia. He decides to leave New york to an unknown land where he would live like a deaf-mute to be spared from the phony talks of the world since he felt most people would not take the pain to write and communicate with him if he pretended to be a deaf- mute. The only person he wishes to say goodbye is Phoebe and due to her insistence that she would also join him in his journey, he finally decides to stay back home. He enjoys Phoebe's innocence and fears that the filthiness in the world would grab her of her innocence one day. At times of fear and despair he talks to his deceased brother and gains solace.
The language of the book is a little too colloquial with words like 'Goddamn','something and all','old..'etc being used abundantly. The frequent,carefree description of adolescent sexual desires made it a little uneasy to read through.
A good book which would make you love Holden as you reach the end !
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